Ways to Stay Healthy at the Gym

With New Year fast approaching, we’re sure many of you are like us, reflecting on your current health and setting some new fitness goals. But if you’re planning on spending more time in the gym in 2018, our team here at Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine encourages you to make injury prevention a key priority.

To that end, we’re sharing a few important tips to keep in mind which can help you get strong and stay healthy come January 1^st.

5 Ways to Stay Healthy at the Gym This New Year

1. GET ENOUGH SLEEP.

Staying healthy on your new workout plan starts even before you step foot in the gym. Sleep and rest (including active recovery) are critical periods for muscle repair and regrowth. Truthfully, it’s during these times that you actually get stronger (the workouts themselves just being the necessary stimuli to trigger the changes). Plus, chronically sleep-deprived people tend to accumulate more body fat and are at more risk for injury.

So, sleep in a dark room, go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, and be sure to schedule active recovery days where you just do some low level cardio to get the blood flowing.

2. WARM UP PROPERLY.

Every workout should be preceded by a 5-10 warm up period. This gets your blood flowing, your connective tissues warm, and your central nervous system primed for exertion.

3. DO ACCESSORY WORK.

Strengthening your small stabilizing muscles around your shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles can improve the stability and strength of these critical joints, thus helping you minimize your chances of getting hurt. Our therapists are happy to give you some helpful ideas to get you started.

4. MOBILIZE.

Most of us are dealing with some sort of flexibility issue somewhere. Our doctors can help you identify specific movement restrictions within your body and teach you effective ways to gain more mobility.

5. KNOW YOURSELF.

Don’t let your new found commitment to health get you into trouble. Ease into things. Know the difference between the pain of hard work and the pain of injury. If you do suspect something’s wrong, come visit with one of our physical therapists or pain management doctors. We can offer you effective and non-surgical treatments that have no downtime and will prevent a small problem from turning into a big one.

Kickstart a Healthy Year with Help From Our Ramsey Pain Management Team

Do you have a nagging injury that just won’t go away? Looking for ways to maximize your physical potential, improve your training recovery, or resolve an acute or chronic injury? Talk to our multidisciplinary team here Progressive Spine & Sports Medicine. We’re an area-leader providing best-practice non-surgical orthopedic and rehabilitative care to the community of Ramsey and other Northern New Jersey areas. To schedule an appointment or find out about our comprehensive services, contact us today at (201) 962-9199…and cheers to a happy and healthy New Year!